Hatfield, Richard Bennett

  • From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: See full biography at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Hatfield
  • Wiki Biography:
    • The youngest of five children of Heber Hatfield and Dora Robinson, Richard was brought up with politics in the household. His father, already a well known potato shipper, was Hartland’s mayor when he was born. In 1938, at 7 years old, his father brought him to the Conservative Party of Canada leadership convention in Winnipeg where he met his namesake, R. B. Bennett. In 1940 Heber was elected Victoria-Carleton county Conservative Member of Parliament and served until his death due to cancer in 1952. Young Richard spent a lot of time in Ottawa, even getting to know John Diefenbaker and his first wife Edna.
    • When the New Brunswick Legislature was not sitting, Hatfield sold potato chips all over the Maritimes. His first few years as an MLA were uneventful, but he spent a lot of time talking to reporters about politics in Fredericton and Montreal.
    • He became Leader of the Opposition and interim leader of the Progressive Conservatives after the 1967 general election and was elected party leader in 1969 after defeating former leader Charles Van Horne. He led the party to victory in the 1970 provincial election. During Hatfield’s long tenure, he became prominent on the national stage by allying with Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau during the constitutional negotiations that led to the 1982 patriation of the Canadian constitution and the creation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
    • Hatfield’s last years in office were plagued by personal scandal. On September 25, 1984, the RCMP found 35 grams of marijuana in his suitcase during a security check of luggage conducted before a flight from Fredericton to Moncton during a royal visit by Queen Elizabeth II.
    • In 1990, he was appointed to the Senate of Canada by Governor General Ray Hnatyshyn, on the advice of Brian Mulroney.
    • It was a widely known open secret that Hatfield was gay; in the 1978 provincial election, New Brunswick Liberal Party leader Joseph Daigle attracted criticism for a campaign speech in which he referred to Hatfield as a “faded pansy”.
  • Third Great Grandson of Proven Loyalist listed in Loyalist Directory – https://uelac.ca/loyalist-directory/detail/?wpda_search_column_id=3657
  • Find a GRAVE: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/15107518/richard_bennett-hatfield